Photohardenable elements are now well known as reproduction means in many areas of photographic reproduction. The differences in the properties of the imagewise exposed and unexposed areas of the photohardenable layer are used to produce the image, e.g., differences in solubility, differences in the softening point, tackiness, adhesive properties, etc.
Reproduction processes are known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,060,024, 3,582,327 and 3,649,268 wherein photopolymerizable elements comprising a base support bearing a photopolymerizable layer comprising at least one addition polymerizable monomeric compound, a photopolymerization initiator and a polymeric binder are exposed imagewise through an original forming tacky and nontacky image areas. The image is made visible (developed) by dusting with a suitable toner which adheres only to the unexposed tacky areas. Excess toner is then removed from the exposed, nontacky image areas. By the aforementioned process, positive colored images of the original are obtained which are equivalent to press proofs. While positive images are achieved by the above process, it has not been possible to prepare negative images with respect to the original. Such a need for reproduction of negative images exists in many applications, e.g., direct color separation technology.